The University of Sheffield has been given a substantial grant to enhance postgraduate research, thanks to the Wolfson Foundation, a charity that awards grants to support and promote excellence in the fields of science and medicine, health, education, and the arts and humanities.

Sheffield is one of only nine universities across the UK selected to take part in a pilot funding programme of postgraduate scholarships. Sheffield has been selected due to its track record in research excellence and proven success in attracting promising postgraduate students.

The Wolfson Postgraduate Scholarships will be available in the broad subject areas of history, literature and languages. The scholarships will be awarded to outstanding students who demonstrate the potential to make an impact on one of these fields and to be future academic leaders. They will be awarded solely on merit to students aspiring to an academic career.

The Wolfson Postgraduate Scholarships pay:

tuition fees

an annual, tax-free maintenance stipend, currently £15,000

a Research Training Support Grant (currently £5,500 per year) for study visits, conferences, books, consumables and equipment.

These scholarships fund up to three years full-time or six years part-time study, subject to satisfactory progress. Part-time studentships will be paid at 50% of the full-time rate (i.e. £7500 stipend per year).

Eligibility

You should have a strong academic record, including a first class or upper second class undergraduate degree and a Masters degree in a field of study relevant to your research (or equivalent qualifications).

You should be applying to start your first year of study on a full-time or part-time PhD with the University in the 2014-15 academic year (i.e. after 1st August 2014, exact start date to be agreed with your supervisor/ department) on a project which falls into one of the broad categories of history, literature or languages.

Awards are open to UK, EU and international applicants.

How to apply
Scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis – applications are assessed on the basis of academic success and qualifications, experience, research background, a clear well-articulated research proposal, the potential impact of the research and a good match with supervisor/ departmental expertise.

As a first step you should contact an academic department / supervisor to discuss your proposed research project.

Apply for admission as a PhD student. Once you have done this you will receive an application/ admissions number (usually within a few working days). You will need this number to apply for a scholarship, so please ensure that you apply in plenty of time before the deadline.

Once you have an application number, apply for a scholarship by completing the scholarships application form. This form will be considered alongside the information and supporting documents (transcripts, references etc) that you supplied with your admissions application. You can use this form to apply for various scholarship schemes (University Prize, Faculty, Harry Worthington, Wolfson, ESRC DTC Scholarships) – please complete it once only, ticking the schemes you wish to be considered for.

The closing date for Wolfson Postgraduate scholarship applications is Monday 3rd February 2014 at 12 noon. Late applications will not be accepted in any circumstances.

Your application will be reviewed by scholarship panels, and you will be informed of the outcome by the end of May 2014.

Further Information
If you have any questions please see our FAQs or email pgr-scholarships@sheffield.ac.uk.